Best Morning I've Had In Quite Some Time!

Saturday, June 02, 2012

So, it's no secret. Yesterday I was a little blue. The weather was dreary. A friend of mine is suffering a bit and I was sick with worry and didn't sleep well at all on Thursday night. Plus, I was just a little overwhelmed at work and it was a rest day, which does affect my mood. Just a blah day in general. But...slept very well last night and it is amazing what a difference that can make.

Woke up super early this morning and got my little guy up to take him to the Farmer's Market with me. He and I have never gone to the market alone together and he was literally shaking with excitement the entire time. He just loves this special time with his mama all alone! He helped me by choosing vegetables and paying all the farmers. Of course, they all told him how big a boy he was and how he was such a great helper for his mom. It was so much fun!!! And we got it all done by 8:30am.

Farmer's Market Bliss

When we got home, I sat him down with a bowl of that kettle corn and he watched a show, while I went out for a run (no worries...hubby was home! Lol!)

Oh my goodness, you guys. The temp outside was PERFECT this morning and everything was just bursting with color and freshness. I could not have engineered a more GORGEOUS day for a run. Once again, running "with" a fellow sparker who was doing a 5k this morning.

I had a good feeling going into this one. But I worried when I noticed I wasn't making much progress and 11 minutes had already passed. I worked on a longer running interval in the middle of the run and took a couple walking breaks to catch my breath. I was making decent time and was actually a little ahead. But I was getting tired. However, my run app indicated that it was still possible for me to meet my goal of a 40 minute 5k. I kept things slow and steady for as long as possible because I knew tiring myself out would not work. Near the end, I was walking and I saw that I had one minute left. I was exhausted...but, you guys, I could SEE the end and I had 0.1 miles left!!!!! So I just sprinted that last 0.1.

I made it in 40 minutes flat. I kid you not, I felt like I would hurl and when I finished, I splayed out on my driveway (which felt SO nice and cool). I was SO proud of myself. And nothing on my body hurts at all. I slowly cooled down and stretched out really well and just laid there on the driveway for about half an hour before going inside. What a rush!!!

I've been dying to make these for weeks and I bought all organic ingredients and the recipe calls for whole grain flour. I brought Little Man in on the action and we created a photo journey of scone creation for you.

A note: if you are OCD like me and you are going to let a 4 yr old help you with this recipe, you must understand that your kitchen will be destroyed by the end of this. Just know this and accept this fact and be OK with it.

A second note: Let's just acknowledge the mess in my living room before I even show you any pictures of my son with said mess in the background. OK...moving on.

So, we started off trying to line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Well, listen...Mama's a lil OCD, so we used tape and wrapped it like a present. Don't judge me!

Next, we got to put butter in a bowl and chase it all around with a mixer. Boy liked this game.

Then, we added sugar and made it look like mashed potatoes.

Then, eggs and vanilla and evaporated milk.

Most delicious-smelling step was adding the zest of one lemon. Man child about blew a gasket when I pulled that grater out of the cabinet. Super excitement! Don't judge...admit it, you *know* you get a *little* excited when you get to use the grater.

Dry ingredients time! And, since I bought my whole grain white flour in bulk from the co-op grocery store and I was trying to scoop it out of a flimsy little fruit/veggie bag, we got super dirty. Yay!

Let's throw it all together. Chef Meg says "mix just until combined". Uhhh...yeah right. This stuff was not coming together...so, we used our hands. It was crumbly. Then, she says "gently stir in raspberries". Into this crumbly mess of non-dough? Okaaaay.

Here's where this gets good!!!! So, it says "turn the DOUGH onto the baking pan and form an 8-inch circle".

At this point, it's really not sticking together because I honestly think we should have increased the evaporated milk JUST a little bit...by maybe 1/4 cup???

J-Man and I were confused.

Then, it asks you to cut into 12 pieces. Riiiiggght.

OK, hold up here. Do you SEE that little slacker in the right-hand bottom corner???! I had a heck of a time getting these things separated by half an inch. But I was all, "Okay, Chef Meg...I will trust you."

The finished product was an interesting texture, but of course, mighty tasty!!! Gotta say...yummiest 172 calories I've had in quite awhile!

NANAGO1204 Looks like a fun time was had by all...especially those of us reading about it! Kids are a lot of fun in the kitchen...can't wait for my grandsons to old enough to help out! Well done!!1990 days ago

MARYM1962
WOW - what a busy day - I miss my LITTLE MAN - my grandson moved to the DC area and I am stuck in the Mid-South - he would have whipped up the scones all by himself (but he is 7 instead of 4 - he does a lot of things on his own but would have left the clean up for a grown up!).2010 days ago

1GROVES2
What fun reading your blog! I love all your descriptions of everything! You include every detail and I can feel your emotions through it...hey and your little man is a doll! Thanks for sharing, it was both a fun read and an inspiration!2016 days ago

GINGERPAWZ
I have memories of cooking with my now 12 year old when he was younger. Those were fun times. He still talks about being a chef when he grows up. We can have fun while teaching our little ones life skills. Hope you have an day with whatever you do.

LSIG14
There is nothing better than the pure joy of cooking with kids - I miss those times so much. You certainly seem to have your priorities straight...living and teaching healthy ways while enjoying every moment of being a Mom! They do grow up so fast!!!2018 days ago

PACKERMAN2
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful experience. Your son is very lucky to havesuch a multi-tasking mom. Some of my greatest memories are of me and my son orhim and his dad in the kitchen.2018 days ago

HANOVERLADY
Looks like fun! My mom used to say "it all goes in one stomach" so I was not to worry if things didn't look quite right - it wasn't going to look too good in the tummy anyway. Taste is what matters!2018 days ago

GUINSMITH
next time add a tablespoon and check you may need more than 1 of water humidity or lack of it can make a recipe vary from place to place. Scones are suppose to be crumbly but not too crumbly.2018 days ago

MIRANDA_LYNN84
WoW...looks like you both had a lot of fun. I enjoy baking with my children and just observing them and seeing how happy they are to have responsibilities such as pouring the milk and mixing the ingredients. 2018 days ago

CRINKLYMONKEY
This is such a cute blog with your son. These are memories he will never forget. That is awesome about your time on your run/walk! You are doing so well. How long did it take to get to that 40 minutes? 2018 days ago

ALMEEKER
Congrats on your lovely supermom morning!!! And what a lovely story with pics. I will most certainly excuse your messy living room, I see actual carpet, so it's not as bad as mine LOL.

I may be able to help with the scones a bit here, they are all about "technique" rather than "ingredients". Was your butter room temperature? With scones that can make all the difference, soft butter holds more dry ingredients than cold. As for the actual "mixing" business, you my friend need a pastry cutter. Handy little gadget with a handle on one side and wires on the other. Often a recipe will read "cut" the flour into the butter/sugar/egg mixture or "cut" the dry ingredients into the wet), it works a bit like a potato masher. You can certainly use your hands, but it's faster with a cutter. More milk might have been helpful to make a cohesive dough, but a scone is supposed to be rather dry (so you can dip it in your cuppa tea cheerio). Too much moisture in your dough will yield a hockey puck, the boy will love them, but not to eat.

Onto the circle of dough. Start with a ball then pat it down to about 1" thick and slice it into 12 pieces like a pizza (thereby avoiding the slacker in the corner). Although I've eaten scones in lots of different shapes, they are most often triangular or crescent in shape. 2018 days ago

FARIS71
Awesome! I made banana bread with my 3 kiddos this weekend and totally understand the mess! And I can't wait til our farmer's market gets rolling for the summer. Last summer they didn't have too many farmers so each time we went we ended up getting baked goods instead. oie!2018 days ago

CAROLZ1967
LOVE the photo journal of it. So great you let your son help! That's a tough one for me. I know I need to relax and let them.....but it's hard, thinking of the mess and extra work it causes. BUT I know the bonding and lessons they can learn from helping us are important and special. Maybe that should be a goal of mine this summer too. :-) You both will treasure these photos in years to come. Thanks for sharing!2018 days ago